Firestorm
by PureWaterLily
Summary: They are three orphans prone to psychological warfare, violent rampages, and chronic backstabbing. And they are arguably the best team Konoha ever produced. Dark!Canon. Sakura-centric.
1. Haruno Sakura!

A/N: Eh. Just a pilot run.

.

"Haruno Sakura, come back here right now!"

Gritting her teeth, Sakura stomped down the stairs and made a beeline for the downtown Konoha streets.

"Sakura!"

She blocked out her mother's call.

It was past twilight. Whatever pedestrians had scattered off, granting her free rampage across the intersections. After a kilo's stretch, she collapsed on a bench in front of the public library.

She pressed her forehead against her knees. Stupid, stupid parents. Every girl wore earrings, Ino included. _Their_ parents seemed to have understood the importance of beauty in success and esteem. _Their_ parents dedicated the time teach them how to walk gracefully, speak sweetly, and dress cutely, to raise them with skills to move up the social ladder.

Sakura's parents did _not_ understand. They did not understand why Sakura would cry whenever her mom sheared her hair with a pair of kitchen scissors, or why she threw a fit at leftovers from the discount rack. They did not understand why Sakura would cringe at their crass mannerisms or embarrassing jokes. They did not understand the pain of a social outcast, nor the difficulty to compare to clan kids, who naturally excelled and lived in riches. Finally, they did not understand what it meant to fall in love with one of them.

Just for once, Sakura wanted to be given a chance. There had been a pair of silver butterfly earrings on display in the marketplace. After a year of begging, her parents promised her that if she kept good grades, she could get the earrings for her next birthday.

Sakura kept true to her side of the bargain. So on her tenth birthday, she had no appetite, practically jumping for her earrings. However, when she opened the box, in the place of silver butterflies were ugly, yellow stars. To make it worse, they were big and plastic, like someone taped buttons on her ears.

Her parents were happy though. Kizashi clapped his hands in drunken approval, and Mebuki jokingly bet that Sakura would not last three days before the earrings were forgotten in the drawer.

_No_. Had Sakura gotten her butterflies, she would wear them faithfully every day. Instead, she was made a fool.

The box had slammed against the kitchen floor.

_"Sakura!" _Mebuki rose up from her chair, the humor gone from her voice._"What is wrong with you!"_

_"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! Is that what I said I wanted? I wanted the Kairu Silver Butterflies!"_

_"You're not piercing your ears. You wanted earrings, and these can be clipped on."_

_"I don't WANT stupid clip-ons! I NEVER wanted clip-ons!" _Sakura banged her fists on the table hard enough for the bowls to clatter.

_"Now, now, give them a chance," _Kizashi said._ "Didn't you always want to be one of those Sailor Star girls on TV? With them, you look just like one!"_

He laughed. Sakura could only stare at him. Her hands itched to throw a chopstick.

_"NO! No, you stupid, you retard!"_

_"Sakura! Don't you speak to your father like that!"_

_"Screw you!"_

Konoha nights were chilly. At the next wind, Sakura shivered and buried deeper into herself.

She heard a flip-flop of slippers approach her bench.

"There's my princess."

"Go away."

Kizashi knelt down, patting his daughter's back. "Come on, don't get grumpy on your birthday."

"Well, I am, no thanks to you," she spat, swatting away his touch.

"You know, if you end up catching a cold, it's going to be chicken feet soup."

He chuckled until he caught Sakura's despondent expression. Sighing, he sat down on the bench.

"Sakura, your mother is right-"

Sakura reacted violently. "Of course! Side with her! You always do!" She felt her energy leave her. "You always do..." Her voice cracked, and she fought back a new stream of tears.

Kizashi's face slipped, his gaze fallen on the crumbled mess beside him. He knew his daughter was prone to emotional outbursts over every little thing. However, he could tell this time was different. For months, Sakura sat through practice after practice, from afternoon until bedtime, the scrolls stacking in piles in her room. She studied with the fervor of religious devotion, of a little girl in love. She truly wanted the earrings.

Sakura was so consumed by misery that she nearly missed the object dangling before her.

"Otou-san?"

"Ah ne, I saved it for your twentieth birthday." Kizashi smiled, dropping a necklace into her palm. "It can be yours now if you promise to not cry anymore. I know they're not earrings but..."

Under the street light glinted a crystallized cherry blossom flower, simple and geometric. She never expected her tasteless parents to come up with a piece of jewelry this beautiful.

Her heart skipped at the prospect of Sasuke seeing her with it. He would notice her. Maybe they could even date. A fluttering warmth bubbled in her chest and tinted her cheeks, as she thought of the idea of them together at a table in Dangoya, their fingers intertwined.

She closed her palm. Appeased with the compromise, she tailed her father back home.

"Well, who's excited for some cake?" Kizashi exclaimed, testing the doorknob. He swung the main door open.

From behind, Sakura grumbled on her climb up the stairs. She heard him announce, "Daughter retrieval mission, _accomplished!_" followed by another round of hearty laughs. "Let's-"

She barely touched her sandal when she heard a crash from the kitchen.

"Otou-san-?"

She froze.

The kitchen table had splintered in the middle, with two broken legs that sent all plates top-sided on the floor. Crawling under the vegetables was a contrasting red.

Her gaze flickered across the room, unable to stop seeing more speckles of red on the chair seats, the cabinets, the bare forearm sprawled parallel to the floorboards. It was even on her birthday cake, half of the dessert smashed by scalp and hair.

Sakura's heart stopped when she caught a movement in her father's eye. His lips twitched.

Before Kizashi could form any word, a boot stepped on his head. Gulps of blood bubbled into the cake as the sword pulled out of his neck, as fresh and gleaming as a newborn baby.

"Ah, much better."

Sakura wanted to scream. Run. Even faint.

Instead, she stood still. From beginning to end, she stood still, letting the murderer strut around her home in an appreciative hum.

.

"... n-normal weight, I guess."

"Hair?"

"He was bald."

"Eye color?"

"I- I don't know. He was wearing um, like one of those... those stage masks."

"So you never saw his face?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Did you hear his voice?"

"Yes, it was kind of raspy."

"What did he say?"

There was silence.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "I don't remember."

Once the officer finished his questioning, he pocketed his notebook. At the door, he sent the girl a small, awkward smile. "It's going to be okay." It was a terrible lie.

Raidō closed the door behind him, then stared at the chaos that was the makeshift police station, complete with tangled telephone lines and tipping paperwork.

Two summers ago, there once stood a respected military police force, with mastermind detectives, an elite capture team, and the best evidence crew that blood can produce. Then some psycho kid just had to kill them all.

Shortly after the Uchiha massacre was a tumbleweed of whispers, excitement, and fervor. Waves of freshly vested chūnin had wanted in on the manhunt, because the bounty on the head of Uchiha Itachi was enough to cruise in sea of money.

Unfortunately, Raidō hopped on the bandwagon too late. He had been recruited to face the _long_-term consequences, starting with a painful attempt to scavenge all law and order. Crime rates had spiked, and while many of the temporary officers were excellent soldiers, few were trained to work within a bureaucracy. Neither did they have the discipline.

With a heavy sigh, Raidō tossed his notebook on the mess of paperwork by Genma's kicked up feet.

Genma peeked up from his file. "Well?"

"Burglary turned homicide."

"Burglary," Genma repeated with a raise of his brow. "What they rob? Spoons? I've checked up on this Haruno family. They're not broke, but they don't have much for show either."

"The girl said the murderer had a backpack. He took the family's savings from under the sink and more stuff from the parent's room. Sounds like burglary to me."

"Why burn the place down?"

After a trainwreck of cases, Raidō honestly did not want to think any deeper. "Probably to get rid of evidence. From what I can tell, we're not dealing with a shinobi here. There was noise and a bloody mess. He used a slicing-specific sword to stab. And..."

"And what?"

Raidō averted his gaze, thumbing through tabs of his binder. "And he let the girl live." While shinobi knew better.

They sat in a silence of background staples and telephone rings. Finally, Genma swiveled in his chair and returned to his file. "Non-shinobi, huh. Neighbors will be relieved."

Sakura spent another day in the police station to identify the type of mask. Afterward, she was no further use and returned to school. She took her usual seat, blankly listening to her sensei tap the chalkboard and read sections on history.

"... Sakura. Haruno Sakura!"

Her head snapped up. "Sensei?"

Iruka sent a look around the room to hush giggles. "Haruno Sakura, the next passage, if you may."

On reflex, she stood up, only to realize she had no book. She trembled in place until someone passed a book to her.

Speechless, she accepted. Sasuke faced the front again.

After one last glance at him, she managed to break the croak in her voice and read.

"Thank you, Sakura. Don't forget your materials next time."

Sakura reseated, relieved that Iruka did not reprimand her further.

Her relief was short-lived. The police officer handling her case reassured her that the governmental housing administration will find her residence. He never told her where to go in the meantime. After school ended, she uneasily filed out with the rest of the students.

Out of options, she sat on the swing set, fatigued. Her hair was greasy and tangled, with specks of dandruff. Her clothes held a nauseous stench of sour copper and explosive powder. She barely slept in the past two days, nor eaten since the officer bought her some crackers from a vending machine.

The swing creaked under the sway of her weight. Her fingers grew numb as the metal chains bit into her palm.

The shadow stretched longer from the tip of her shoes. The burglar should have killed her too. It would have been better than dying like this.

"Ano, Sakura, are you okay?"

The voice was so tiny that Sakura almost did not recognize the speaker. Averting her gaze, Ino pulled a woolen scarf to her nose.

"I heard what happened," Ino mumbled. "My parents said it's okay for you to sleepover... if you want."

In that moment, Sakura forgot everything, how she swore off her friendship with Ino, how they fought and threw insults every day. She buried herself in the arms of her best friend and cried until she could cry no more.

.

In the middle of the night, Ino peered down her bed. A nest of pink hair peeked out the futon the floor, soft sobs muffled into the pillow. For days, Sakura had curled against her side, jumpy at every change in shadow, clutching her arm so tight Ino lost circulation.

Then, out of nowhere, the stubborn girl insisted she could sleep alone. Ino was not sure who or what prompted the change, but Sakura was obviously not ready for it. With a sigh, she pulled the chain to her lamp and scooped her friend into her bed, pulling the covers over the both of them. Sakura made a defiant whimper. Ino pretended it was gratitude.

By morning, Ino had ran off in a towel to the guest shower, leaving Sakura in quiet contemplation in Ino's bathroom. Like the bedroom, there hung a sweet floral perfume in the air, with clean marble tiles and walls of pressed lilies. Before the vanity were clusters of moisturizer, jewelry pieces, and colored glass bottles that caught the light.

It was so different from the claustrophobic bathroom of her former home, of discolored cabinets and stable household products. Sakura stared at the glint of earrings twirling off the stand. It was so different.

"Maa Sakura-chan, are you ready-" Ino stopped.

Sakura jumped, clutching a strand of red ribbon stolen from the basket. Ino softened her expression.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you accompany me to the market today," Ino's mother hummed into her breakfast tea.

Ino brightened at the idea, only to pout at the reminder of her own ninjutsu lesson with father.

There was a regal type of authority wherever Ino's mother walked, the type that made people hesitate to disagree. Unlike with her own mother, Sakura made no complaints in helping carry the bags of grocery, no matter how numerous or heavy. The trip lasted until afternoon, and by then, her shoulders ached and pink lines marked her wrists.

As reward for her assistance, she was given a subtle smile. "I have found all I need. But what would you like, Sakura-chan?"

They stood in the busiest intersection, where garment vendors pulled out lovely spring fabrics and the jewelry merchants showcased their finest gems. In the window of the game store stood little paint kits and dolls made of porcelain, and the gourmet cafe just next door brought out a fresh cake.

She spun around in confusion, lost in the colors and noise. A familiar door chime stopped her still. Weakly, she pointed to the shop by the far corner.

Ino's mother followed the girl to the bookstore, where with shaking hands she pulled out one Academy textbook after another from the shelves. She reached for blank paper workbooks and a box of wooden pencils. Finally, she took a backpack.

It was large and brown, with double buckles in the middle. It was also tailored for boys. Ino's mother had frowned her disapproval when Mebuki grabbed something similar.

"_Eh, what do you think? She'll love it. And look, on sale!"_

She had been lost to Mebuki's excitement. As subtle as possible, she nodded in the direction of a white bag, with red lace on the side and a heart clip. "_I heard that brand was popular with the young girls nowadays."_

Mebuki paused at the bag on display and kept her smile. "_No, I think my Sakura-chan will love this one._"

Sakura froze at the hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan, have you thought about that one?"

Briefly, her eyes flickered over to the Sailor Stars backpack collection, where two other school girls giggled and fawned in admiration. Her gaze fell back down to the backpack in her hands. "N-no, thank you, this is fine, thank you, obaa-san."

Ino came back from training excited to see the goods, only to find her friend perched by the windowsill, working on Monday's homework.

.

Eight hours at the Academy. Eight hours at home. Eight hours asleep. That was the cycle of her life. Even if she lost one part of it, she was determined to protect the other two parts.

From the sidelines, Ino watched in worry as Sakura pretended nothing had changed. During the first week, Iruka repeatedly expressed disapproval over Sakura's recent slack. Ino's friends kept asking why she was nice to Sakura again. Ino bit her lips and kept her discretion. She did not intend start gossip, not when her friend felt frailer than damp rice paper.

No one knew.

Everyone knew when Sasuke lost his parents. He received an official condolence from the school and the Hokage. He received a month's pardon from school as part of his recovery, and teachers warned all students to show sensitivity and respect. The wealthiest families of the village even offered to welcome him in as one of their own. With Sasuke, the news had been loud and fast.

Ino felt that it would be better if more people understood and sympathized with Sakura too.

Months later, a rumor crept through the school, and Ino found herself proven dead wrong.

"Hey, it's the hobo! How's it like sleeping in the streets?" A group of girls laughed while Ami crossed her arms, smirking.

Gritting her teeth, Ino stomped across the playground.

"Do you bathe in the sewers too?"

With a shove, Ino sent Ami careening backwards. "The only thing in the sewers will be your ugly face!"

At Ino's glare, Ami scowled and left. Not only was Ino rank one in class, she was a Yamanaka. You did _not_ mess with clan kids.

Turning around, Ino knelt down and gathered Sakura into her chest. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Listen, we're going to get back at her. Tomorrow, we're getting ten cans of nattō and convincing that Naruto idiot to dump it all into Ami's pants. He'd be totally on it."

Ino let out a breath of relief when Sakura broke into a smile. "Yeah."

The nattō plan never carried through.

Sakura trembled before her vandalized locker, her jacket torn, her homework in pieces on the floor. While she dropped to her knees and combed through her belongings in panic, Ino cursed under her breath.

"No... no..." Sakura threw her papers across the floor in search of something.

Before Ino could say anything, there was a giggle. "Look everyone, she even grovels like a hobo!"

Sakura froze, her eyes on Ami.

Ino cracked her knuckles and stepped forward. "That's it-!"

"You."

Ino whipped back to see Sakura stand up.

"Give it back."

Ami tilted her head. "Give what back? I wasn't aware hobos could own anything."

"Please give it back!" Sakura cried, eyes swelled with tears. "_Please_!"

Ami only lowered her eyelids, before she made a noise of concession. "Fine, you can have it back," she said, bending into a nearby trash can.

"Here, have it back."

Before Ino could react, Ami threw the soda can. It made a frightening noise against Sakura's head, before the remaining contents spilled down her hair and face. In shock, Sakura watched the homework on the floor stain with blotches of brown.

Ami laughed. "Hey, ninety-nine more and you can buy yourself some deo-"

The hallway echoed with a howl that made Ino's blood turn cold. All the girls ran away as Sakura tackled Ami into the ground, clawing with her nails without restraint. "GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK NOW!"

Ami's scream got higher with each strike. Blood dripped from under Sakura's nails.

Shaking, Ino took a step back, then looked down to see a strand of something glinting under her foot.

Ino ran to show Sakura her necklace. By the time the teachers pried the hysterical girl away, Ami was already blind.

.

After six months, the housing administration had returned with a contract of her new home. The apartment was not glorious. Ino cringed at the peeling walls and crooked window. Overhead on the roof were loud, gonging pipes caked with mildew, and below was the distinct smell of a run-down laundry mat.

However, the price was more than fair, if not suspiciously cheap. Sakura had her own bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Most welfare children bunked in rooms that were smaller than a closet.

Ino's family made several trips getting Sakura furniture, mainly a bed, desk, and kitchen table set. Ino ran to her family's shop and picked out plants to provide distraction from the hideous walls. However, as she pushed a pot of spathiphyllum across the room, she caught the sight of something unusual. Frowning, she pushed the pot until it pressed against the wall and pretended to not hear the groan on the other side.

"Sakura," she whispered, beckoning her friend over.

Sakura peeked out from the bathroom, foam-lathered gloves in the air. "What is it?"

"You've got pervert neighbor!" Ino hissed, scandalized. She nodded toward the part of the wall covered by the plant. "_There's a peep hole_."

Sakura knelt down and tilted her head against the wall, examining Ino's concern.

Ino expected some sort of reaction, but Sakura only stood up. "I'll keep the plant there. Thanks for letting me know." Without another word, she reached for the steel wool and went back to scrubbing.

Ino dropped her shoulders.

"Your mother was like a sister to me. You are welcome to eat with us, live with us, anytime." Ino watched her mother place a hand on Sakura's shoulder, then gather her purse and leave. Ino followed but gave a hesitant glance back.

"Bye, Sakura."

There was no reply.

After the door closed, the apartment was filled with only the sound of running water and scritch-scratch against ceramic. When no further justice could be done about the sink scum, Sakura filled a bucket and started on the floors.

She worked until the noise of labor could not distract her ears anymore. She became haunted by the creaks of her own footsteps, the silence of a humming refrigerator.

Rag forgotten, Sakura curled inwards, head pressed against a leg of her bed. She remained there while the light outside shifted and shadows stretched longer against the floorboards.

Even when her body told her it was past dinnertime, she had no will to move. Her mind blanked, as she stared at a fly crawl up and down the ceiling.

It was near twilight when Sakura finally crawled to her backpack. There was school tomorrow, and her homework was nowhere near complete. She dug around for her notebook, only to be confronted by an old cover.

_Konoha, the History_.

Her fingers trailed up the spine of the book, well-kept and still fairly new. It still smelled of its previous owner. She shut her eyes, clutching the book intimately close to her heart.

Decided, she stripped away her pillowcase and wrapped the book as carefully as she could. In the bathroom, she scrubbed her hands and splashed her face. From her closet she threw on the nicest clothes Ino had given her. Finally, she pulled out her necklace, letting it rest against the center of her chest, crystallized in time.

She ran, hoping reach her destination before she lost the last streams of sunlight.

There was no answer on her first two knocks, but she heard movement, slow but steady, inside the apartment by the third try.

She stepped back when the door opened.

Sasuke waited.

"I..."

Sakura clutched the book harder.

"I..."

She snapped shut her eyes. "S-Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke stared at the book in her trembling hands, then her. He closed the door.

"Go home, Sakura."

.

_**Two years later...**_

.

For ten minutes, the alarm blared in the same _beep beep beep_ until someone finally slammed the button.

With a kick of the foot, the mattress flipped onto the ground, sandwiching the person on it against the ground.

"Get up."

.

Hatake Kakashi stared at the folder in hand.

_Uzumaki Naruto, age twelve, arrested for graffiti and vandalism, assault and battery, stealing, indecent exposure, loitering, and public urination. Orphaned since birth. Jinchuuriki. Special notes: requires additional repetition around theoretical concepts, prone to general bursts of unpredictability, fond of inappropriate jutsu. Addicted to ramen._

_Uchiha Sasuke, age twelve, no criminal record. Orphaned at age eight. Lone survivor of his clan's massacre. Special notes: severe lack of cooperation, little respect for adult authority, general resistance to communication. Most gifted student in all forms of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. Has notable admiration from his peers._

_Haruno Sakura, age twelve, arrested for assault and battery, placed in psychiatric therapy for eight months under guidance of Yamanaka Inoichi. Orphaned at age ten. Special notes: despite record, Sakura is a good, well-behaved student. Highly sensitive, so use kind words during criticism._

Kakashi looked up from Iruka's notes and wondered what the hell the Hokage had set him up with.

He hid the files away when the first of his students came. It was the Uchiha boy, who wordlessly sat across from him on the rooftop. Within a minute, a rosy girl joined them, sitting politely next to Sasuke. Kakashi assumed she would be Sakura.

After a minute, Kakashi was ready to start, only to interrupted by one last set of footsteps making its ascent up to the roof.

The Uzumaki boy clutched his head as he trotted over, hunched. Before the seats, he stopped and hesitated, switching his gaze between the Uchiha and the girl. He settled for the ground in front of them.

Kakashi cleared his throat and began.

"I assume everyone got the notification that we were supposed to have met _last_ week," he said, staring down his three pupils. He carefully gauged their reactions and was surprised to find none. "Well, do you have an explanation for yourselves?"

The thick silence was broken by the girl, who looked at her feet. "S-sorry sensei, we did show up, and waited a long time too. But you see, it started getting late, and I had to return to my work shift. Then there was dinner to cook, and all the laundry to wash, floors to clean, and bills to go through..."

When her lips quivered and she buried into her palms, Kakashi felt a piece of his dead heart break off.

Sasuke refused to justify himself until the girl looked up from her tears and sent a sharp stab to his side. "It was my mother's birthday," he sighed. "I went to deweed her grave."

And now, whatever remnants of Kakashi's heart crumbled into a pile of ash.

Meanwhile, both Sasuke and Sakura turned to Naruto, awaiting his story.

Naruto kept his face hidden behind bangs. "Well, you see. A few days ago, something dramatic happened in my life. I couldn't graduate, so I was told about this scroll, and things happened, and I learned that I was a... I was something_ awful_..._ S_o I... I..." His voice went hoarse.

He lifted his head up. "So I realized I forgot to water my plants, ahaha!"

Kakashi collapsed.

"Sorry!" With a grin, Naruto swung both arms behind his back. "We all had shit to do, so when you didn't show, we thought that a great _jōnin _like yourself must have been caught up on some noble, life-threatening mission to protect the village."

Naruto passed the baton back to Sasuke.

"One that was so crucial that he had to neglect his teaching responsibilities." Sasuke passed the baton a full circle to Sakura.

"Because it would be incomprehensible that a man as respectable as you would be so _insensitive_ and _cruel_ as to intentionally make us waste time waiting for you, especially one with prior knowledge of our circumstances." Sakura smiled.

After a long awkward moment of silence, Kakashi clapped once. "Okay, nevermind," he said. "Let's just jump to introductions, shall we?"

"Oi, we've been classmates for six years," Naruto snorted. "Think we already know each other."

"Just do it," Kakashi deadpanned.

And thus, Naruto delivered an ode to ramen. Sasuke hated on everything. Sakura gushed about clothes and boys and some television show named Sailor Stars.

When she finished, Kakashi stood up from the railing and closed his eye. "Well, now I guess you're all curious as to who I am."

"Not really."

"We already know."

"Can we talk about our first mission?"

Kakashi held back a blink.

"Okay then, if you're so eager to get started," he said, dropping all nonsense. "Then let's see what you're all made of. Tomorrow morning, we begin survival training. Bring all your shinobi tools. Pass, and we talk missions. Fail, and return to the Academy."

The trio each accepted their logistics packet.

"Do come prepared. I will warn you that it is a difficult test, with a sixty-six percent failure rate every year." Kakashi smiled internally when the children tensed up.

As a farewell, "Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up."

.

"_Team Seven? Yeah, I remember them. I'm guessing they left the classroom after about ten minutes_?"

"_They waited ten minutes._"

"_Well, maybe more like eight._"

.

Kakashi jumped through the trees unusually passionate that morning. Passionate for the homicide of three arrogant children.

Three arrogant, _assiduous _children, he realized upon reaching the clearing. Dawn had yet to break, yet there were already busy movements below. Cloaking his presence, Kakashi observed the Uchiha boy lie a variety of traps throughout the field. Meanwhile, the girl sat amongst a mountain of scrolls, with the Uzumaki unloading another satchel of them from his back.

"You got anything yet, Sakura-chan?" Naruto peered down her shoulder, piece of toast in mouth.

"Not yet," Sakura growled, unraveling another meter of scroll. "But I'll find it. Kakashi-sensei mentioned failure statistics. No way a test that common and standardized would not be documented... Aha!"

Sasuke paused his metalwork, listening carefully.

"The two-bell test is a form of examination used to evaluate the compatibility of the three-man cell of fresh Academy graduates. Developed by the Second Hokage, and further promoted by the Third and Fourth..."

As Sakura read, Kakashi felt a drop of cold sweat down his back. He glanced down at the stolen scrolls. The security at the Teaching Academy was not necessarily tight, but the fact that they thought to go there and succeeded in extracting the correct information was impressive.

Kakashi fought back a smile. Well, wasn't this an interesting team.

"Wait, I don't get it. So according to this, there are only two bells, but three people." Naruto held up three fingers in one hand, two in the other, and confirmed that they indeed did not match in number. "How does that work?"

When the other two looked equally befuddled, Kakashi pinched his nose. A moronic team too.

"We can steal the bells beforehand," Sasuke spoke up, his eyes never leaving the rig wires at hand. "No bells, no test."

Sakura frowned. "Who's to say he won't substitute the bells with something else. Also, he'd be on to us."

"Then you suggest we feign ignorance and take the test."

"Yes. This will be tricky but ultimately a simple application of game theory. It's Hatake Kakashi. If we all think about securing a bell for ourselves, we have a zero percent success rate. It's better to combine our efforts and focus on getting them first, then rock-paper-scissor for the bells. Sixty-six percent success rate." Finished, Sakura rolled up the scroll and looked to her teammates, awaiting their reply.

"Heh, wouldn't that suck, if you lost your future to rock-paper-scissors," Naruto said. He switched his gaze from Sakura to Sasuke, who kept his gaze on his work. When Sasuke finished oiling the last trap, he stood up.

"I think," Sasuke began, "we can all understand..."

With a bitter grin, Sakura extended a hand. "The meaning of..."

Naruto added his fist to the circle. "_Tough luck_."

They broke and got to work.

Kakashi watched his students coordinate their plot. By late morning, they had exchanged their arsenal and mapped a diagram of scenarios and strategic maneuvers. Kakashi decided there was no point stalling any longer and revealed himself in the field, ready to follow their choreography.

Naruto was sent first for an assessment of Kakashi's speed and strength, then later as the distraction. Sasuke had the offensive skills to perform the cornering and boxing. From above, Sakura kept peripheral and controlled signaling.

Despite a rough start, their performance became increasingly smooth, resulting in a bombardment of kage bushin from above, a net of blazing fire from below, and a lone girl waiting at his last escape point.

When Sakura jiggled the bells at hand, Kakashi held up his hands in acknowledgment.

"We got it, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, huffing heavily.

Smirking, Sasuke wiped the blood from his lips and straightened up.

Sakura kept her smile.

"Come on, hurry! We've only got a few seconds left to play rock-" Naruto turned around, eyes wide. "Sakura-chan?"

Alarmed, Sasuke pulled out a kunai.

However, Sakura had already handed a baffled Kakashi one of the bells, just as the timer rang.

Naruto gaped. "What-! Why did you-! We were supposed to rock-paper-scissor for those!"

Twirling her bell, Sakura smirked. "I lied. Thanks for the bell, boys."


	2. The Great Kakashi Bridge

"_My name is Uzumaki Naruto! My greatest like is cup ramen, though Ichiraku is even better! My greatest dislike is the three minute wait for instant ramen to cook. My dream? To become the Ramen King, and make everyone acknowledge the beauty of ramen!"_

Kakashi blinked. Well, that was quite... original.

"_My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a ton of things I dislike, although the worst offenses are tardiness, incompetence, laziness, excuses, and perversion. I don't have a dream, but I do have an ambition to kill a certain man."_

Although Kakashi had an educated guess as to who that man was, and how he was certainly not that man, he still felt inclined to shove his Icha Icha novel deeper into his pocket.

"_My name is Haruno Sakura. I like a lot of things! There are cute clothes and accessories. There are cute little animals. Ooh, and cute boys! I hope to one day a handsome, dark-haired boy would fall in love with me and give me a mansion with my own cool, one-eyed butler and rough, unrefined bodyguard, both of whom are handsome and in love with me too. As for my hobbies, I love watching a show named Sailor Stars every Saturday morning. It's about these girls who fight crime by starlight and win love by daylight, and..."_

And now, Kakashi was slightly disturbed, though judging by Sasuke's and Naruto's pale faces, he was not alone.

.

Madam Shijimi rubbed her cheek mercilessly against her anguished feline. "Oh my cute Tora-chan. I was so worried!"

The Mission Assignment Office was crowded, filled with scroll work and accounting. Wealthy patrons lined by the desks for requests, their children in a giggle of hide and seek behind the pillars.

While Naruto made a commotion to the Hokage about missions more fulfilling than planting potatoes, Sakura counted every ryō of her payment. Redundant mission or not, the wife of the Feudal Lord was paying two hundred thousand a pop. Even at one percent, Sakura counted enough to cover groceries for the month.

"Okay."

Sakura perked up to see the Hokage remove his pipe. "I'll give you a C-rank."

On cue, the door slid open to reveal some drunk in old man pants, a towel around his neck. "These are the ninja? They're just a bunch of brats, especially the short one with the stupid-looking face."

With a grab of the collar, Sakura stopped Naruto from killing their client, then frowned upon hearing their supposed mission. She had no time for a pleasant walk to the Land of Waves, and for the time duration of the mission, the pay was outright lousy.

Unfortunately, she had no say in the matter. No other team was available for the escort mission, and her teammates were eager to accept anything that did not involve shoveling pig shit.

When the Konoha main gate swung open, Naruto ran ahead, bickering with the client, a bridge builder named Tazuna. Kakashi followed. Sasuke shifted his gaze towards Sakura, who had locked in place at the sight of the open road.

"You coming?"

Clenching her jaw, she stepped forward. "Yes."

As they walked, she scanned her surroundings, a lazy afternoon within a shuffle of green foliage and blue skies. She paid particular attentions to the shadows in her periphery and made caution to be in the center of the crowd at all times.

The problem with the external is unpredictability, the random variables and factors uncovered by textbook. The problem with the external is that you never know when some random person will step into the picture and take a hammer to your cardboard world.

Her eyes snapped open at the burst of blood, her teacher diced like meat, the cap of his skull flying off.

"One down."

Chains whipped in the air, as two rogue nin jumped away from Kakashi's dismembered body in favor of Naruto. In a blink, they were behind him, the chain looping around his neck.

With a shuriken and intersecting kunai, Sasuke pinned their chain to the nearest tree, locking them in place before kicking their faces. This gave Sakura enough time to withdraw her own kunai and push their client back.

One of the two enemies unlocked his chain first and flashed toward them. Her eyes narrowed. She made herself overlook the metal of his claw, the menace of his eye, all the machinery and armor and gear, deconstructing him until there stood a man as fragile as herself. With every vulnerability as herself, the vulnerabilities she was all too aware of as she cradled her neck at nights, wrapped under a cocoon of covers.

A clang of metal. Sakura dug her feet into the ground, twisting the handle of her kunai to keep the claw from inching closer to her eye. The enemy shifted weight, ready to punch with his other hand when Sasuke materialized, delivering a kick from below.

A perfectly intact Kakashi then held the enemy in a choke hold, the accomplice already succumbed under his other arm.

It was over.

Sakura collapsed to her knees in relief. However, her pulse quickened again after learning their client had conned them. This was no peaceful stroll. A nervous and cornered Tazuna confessed he was actually wanted dead by a billionaire drug lord who had more than enough disposable income to dispose of _them_.

Almost immediately, Sakura voiced her objection. She prioritized the mission as A level, hardly appropriate for genin. Kakashi might be able to protect them rogue chūnin, but if a shipping magnate like Gatō really wanted Tazuna out of the way, he could easily hire a team of _jōnin. _To continue would be a violation of Konoha codes. Not to mention the _shit-ass pay_.

Unfortunately, the rest of her team ignored her logistics, out of either dedication or ego, but mostly ego. To reinforce continuing the mission, Naruto, who sustained a poison injury during the outbreak, went on a masochistic streak and slit his own hand. Then there was Sasuke, whose unnecessary derision had fueled Naruto's idiocy in the first place.

By the time Kakashi declared they would move forward, Sakura concluded she hated them all.

.

For the sake of protection, their journey was winded with detours. Part of the trip was a languid boat ride through a swamp of roots and vegetation, with heavy smells of compost and gas. The fog was so dense, Sakura breathed in moisture, her hand vanishing from sight when extended too far.

After the boat docked, they traveled on foot. The landscape was crowded with native trees, twisted and bent, roots tenting out deep into the mossy soil. With every step, Sakura felt her sandals sink into sponges of mud, although the humidity did well to cover their tracks.

Unfortunately, no amount of humidity could cover Naruto.

"There!" Without warning, he threw a shuriken at the bushes.

Startled, Sakura whipped around, kunai ready to fend off... a rabbit? Her eye twitched. Naruto laughed nervously. "Sorry, bunny!"he said, scooping up the rabbit in a hug.

Sakura scowled, ready to put herself a few meters ahead of Naruto's recklessness when something hit her. She did a double-take.

"Sakura-chan?"

Squinting, Sakura pulled the rabbit up by its ears. Wasn't this a species of Snow rabbits? From her textbooks, their pigment darkened from white to brown under increased exposure to sunlight. The ability was an evolutionary advantage that allowed them to camouflage in both winter and summer landscapes.

It was already late spring, yet this one was pure white. So either she had a genetic mutant in her hands or, more likely, an indoor pet.

She had barely finished her thought when there was a shout. "Duck!"

Without thinking, she threw herself against Naruto, just as a massive butcher sword spun through the air and sliced into a tree. On top appeared a figure of muscular built, his gaze alone more dangerous than any tooth-edged chains. That her teacher recognized the person, a rogue nin of Kiri by the name of Zabuza, and vice versa, did not help the situation.

Kakashi lifted his shinobi headband.

Zabuza crackled. "Ah, so I get to see the famous Sharingan already."

Both Sasuke and Sakura froze.

"_Can you tell me what you know about the Uchiha clan?"_

Ino had lowered the spoon from her lips, staring back in confusion. _"The Uchiha clan," _she repeated.

"_There's no archive on the Uchiha in any of the research facilities. There's little documentation on clans in general, but the Uchiha is pretty much invisible in history."_

"_Well, I would assume everything would be kept in their own library. And they weren't exactly the gossipy kind, not even with among us." _Ino scoffed, digging her spoon back into her matcha ice cream.

With a grin, she leaned forward. Luckily for Sakura, Ino _was_ the gossipy kind. _"Did you know they had their own religion?" _she whispered. _"Yeah, went to a temple every week for some arcane sun and moon, dark and light ritual type of thing."_

Sakura raised an eyebrow. _"They were a cult?"_

"_Oh yeah, apparently it's supposed to enhance their 'ultimate jutsu'."_

"_The katon," _Sakura clarified.

Ino grinned wider. _"You don't really think that, do you?"_

"_I know that's what their clan insignia supposedly signifies, although I also know a wide host of clans share the ability of the katon, and no simple fire mastery is enough to resort to inbreeding nor oust the exclusive power of the Hyūga."_

At Sakura's look, Ino burst out into a laugh. _"Clever girl. Yes, the kekkei genkai you're wondering about is called the Sharingan, although we like to call it the evil eye. It appeared in the select elite of the clan."_

"_What does this doujutsu do?"_

"_The better question is, what doesn't it do. They were freaky powerful, Sakura. Their lamest could defeat the best of other clans. Too bad for us, they were also rather possessive of their things, including their knowledge, and really did keep to themselves. All we know is, once that eye turns red, you better run."_

As Kakashi's eye spun, Sakura faced more questions than answers. Of all the things from her last background check on the man, an Uchiha exclusive kekkei genkai was not one of them. But maybe that was a good thing, because from the bits of his conversation with the enemy, it seemed that this Sharingan was the key to guaranteeing their quick victory and safe ret-

Sakura blinked. Did he just- Okay, that water prison was looking pretty effective there.

Nevermind, the Sharingan was lousy, her teacher was lousier, and they were epically screwed. Great.

A water clone morphed from the ground beside Naruto and kicked him with enough force to send him flying several meters away. Shaking, Naruto crawled up and charged back at the clone.

"You idiot-!"

Zabuza kicked Naruto back in place. Sakura swallowed, her lips curling upwards. Good, Naruto, good.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," Naruto chuckled, strapping on his retrieved headband.

He turned to Sasuke, who looked to Sakura, who nodded back at Naruto.

Without a word, they exchanged equipment, a mutual grin settling on their faces.

"Time to get wild, boys."

In amusement, Zabuza watched the girl strap on metal arm guards. It was rare to see Konoha nin show backbone. Still, they did display a high amount of the village's stupidity when she charged forward as recklessly as the dumb-looking brat.

He waited for her to come into range, then sliced her torso away from her lower body. Two halves of the Snow rabbit plopped in the ground, while the girl spun an one-eighty, couched beside him in balance.

On his second cut, she transformed into the dumb-looking brat from before, tongue out, index and pinky out. A scarf of tags burned around his neck. "Sayonara, sucker!"

Zabuza watched the explosion of his clone, more intrigued by their use of kage bushin than impressed. He cannot imagine why they would layer a clone with a henge, except to conceal the girl's true whereabouts. Most likely to give her a chance to flee unnoticed from battle, given Konoha's accredited "chivalrous" ways.

"Sorry, wrong deduction."

How did she-!

Zabuza blocked her attack with a swing his sword. The girl crossed her arms to take the brunt of his attack. She winced, before smirking and transforming into a bright burst of flames. Just as Zabuza pulled up a defensive wall of water around himself, a hidden windmill shuriken burst through the steam. _Two _windmill shuriken, one in the shadow of the other.

Forced him to break his prison grip on Kakashi, Zabuza seized the upper windmill and dodged the lower, but had no time to foresee any further. The dodged windmill threw a kunai from below, the dark-haired boy threw a kunai from above, and the girl threw a kunai from behind, simultaneously puncturing his lung, heart, and neck.

Dripping, an escaped Kakashi impassively watched Zabuza collapse to his knees.

"You've got a good team," Zabuza laughed, eyes wild with bloodlust.

"It's over," Kakashi said. "You're already dead."

Zabuza's body rolled on the ground.

Kakashi eyed the dirt tunnel beside him. Incredible. Never would he have thought he had such a capable team, nor that an S-rank criminal like Zabuza would be made a fool by a simple application of kawarimi.

With his Sharingan, Kakashi caught the whole performance, starting with the kage bushin planted by the foot of Zabuza's clone. While the bushin dug underground toward the real Zabuza, Sakura advanced to the clone, using a kawarimi with the Snow rabbit to get inside the range of Zabuza's sword. The second kawarimi, Sakura and Naruto's kage bushin substituted with each other, so that Sakura landed in proximity to the real Zabuza and the kage bushin blew up the water clone. With the clone gone, Naruto and Sasuke were free to mobilize under the cover of the debris, so that by the third and final kawarimi, Sakura and Sasuke could substitute, allowing Sasuke to deliver a close-range katon and Sakura to throw Naruto as a shadow shuriken.

Individually, Naruto's kage bushin was a flexible, disposable tool, but lacked the subtlety to fool any high level enemy. Sasuke's katon, as devastating as it was, proved slow and easily countered at a distance. But with a third member on the team, they were not only able to position themselves in the right places at the right time, but also create enough layers of confusion and unpredictability to delay Zabuza's reaction, if only by a second.

You only need one second to kill a man.

Zabuza made a grave mistake of toying with this team, and he paid with his life.

Just when Kakashi thought he could relax, he detected a second presence from the woods. A masked child in the traditional garbs of the Kiri descended before Zabuza's body.

Tazuna stepped back as Sasuke appeared before him in protection. Naruto growled, ready to attack when Kakashi pulled him back.

"This one isn't an enemy," he said, eying the hunter-nin mask.

"I hail from Kirigakure," the child said softly. "I commend you for defeating a wanted rogue nin. It is my duty to now dispose of this body."

Naruto unwound when the child lifted the body and vanished. Kakashi pulled down his headband, satisfied by how the situation resolved itself.

"Well, now that's over, we should get Tazuna-san back home," Kakashi chirped.

Tazuna tilted his hat and laughed merrily. "Super thanks for not letting me die, kids! Come over to my house for some refreshments!"

"Whoo!" Naruto cheered at the mention of food.

They were ready to set off, until Sasuke peered down at the puddle of blood by one unconscious kunoichi. "... Guys."

Naruto's grin froze on his face, before slowly sinking down into an open jaw. His face turned white.

"HOLY SHIT, SAKURA-CHAN!"

.

A kunai peeked out from the grass.

Haku placed a hand against Zabuza's neck, ignoring the blood slipping through the cracks of his fingers. Ice began to crystallize and seal the wound.

"Please let me stay by your side."

A tear slipped down his cheek.

"Please."

.

Sakura woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, cinder block casts around both her arms. Well, doesn't this hurt like a bitch.

"I admit the strategy was fine," Kakashi said. "But in terms of body collateral, the role probably should have gone to Naruto."

Naruto jumped on her futon. "Yeah, Sakura-chan! You nearly lost both your arms!"

Sakura pondered this. Konoha's compensation for bodily damage during missions was substantial, and having both her arms chopped off meant at least five years of welfare money.

But no. Zabuza was already handicapped to one hand, and she had specifically picked a position with a difficult angle for him to even reach, let alone strike powerfully. Added with the inertia of his sword and its aerodynamics, as well as Zabuza's initial body stance, there simply was not enough momentum for a fatal blow.

Not that she would bother explaining centripetal force to Naruto.

"Trust me," she said impatiently. "I'd lose your arms over mine any day." But it was not like she could not henge anywhere as convincingly as Naruto, nor blow out a katon like Sasuke, so distraction dummy it was.

She dropped the topic. "Anyway, what is this hunter-nin everyone is mumbling about?"

"Oh, some weird kid in a mask just came in and took the body away. Apparently to burn it or something."

Sakura furrowed her brows. "That's conveniently timed," she said. "And during our fight, he made no effort to help us?"

"I know, what a douchebag!"

Sakura kept her skepticism.

Kakashi shifted. "I've been thinking the same thing too, Sakura."

"Whaa-?"

Unable to constrain her temper, she dealt a headbutt to Naruto's skull. "You moron! You just let Zabuza's ally walk away!" Groaning, she buried her head into the futon. "I _knew _it. I knew there was someone else."

"How-"

"The bunny!" she growled. "It was a pet, and Zabuza didn't strike me as the bunny type. They were a pair, he and the kid."

"So-?"

"_So_ there's someone still targeting Tazuna-san! And let's pray their relationship wasn't close, or else we're targets of revenge!"

Huffing, Sakura turned to Kakashi, who sat weighing the turn of events. If he had any sense of responsibility, he would take them back to Konoha right now. It had been a miracle they managed to kill Zabuza, and she was not pushing her luck, especially now that enemy knew better than to underestimate them as bumbling kids.

But of course, nope, there was that exemplary display of dedication again. And ego. Still mostly ego.

"We're going to prepare for the worst case scenario and begin immediate training," Kakashi decided. "Sasuke, Naruto, you come with me. Sakura..." He looked down at her casts. "Why don't you take it easy."

A small, dead voice caught everyone's attention. "You know, what's the point. You're all just going to die anyway."

"Inari!"

With deadpan, Sakura waited for everyone to quiet. An angered Naruto chased after the client's grandson, with an apologetic Tazuna following. Kakashi's idle, one-sided conversation with Sasuke did little to amend the awkwardness in the room, resulting in both opting to silently leave for the fields.

When the room emptied, the mother of the family, Tsunami, came to Sakura's side. "I am terribly sorry about my son," she grumbled. "If there's anything I can do to make you more comfortable..."

Sakura kicked the comforter off. "Yeah, help me up." She hissed. "Kakashi-sensei did not receive an exorbitant portion of my mission fee to train my _teammates_."

With that, Sakura straightened and stalked out, one limb at a time. When she burst out the door, she nearly fell into the water.

"Oh wow," she mumbled, eying the pier. The entire architecture of the house was suspended above a river, a dragonfly buzzing past her nose.

In the fields, Sasuke and Naruto were vertically running up the trees.

Sakura craned her neck. "Cool, are you teaching us three dimensional maneuverability, sensei?"

"Sakura, what are you doing here. I told you to stay at the house," Kakashi said.

"But-"

"This isn't a joking matter. Zabuza's sword pierced through your arm guards, severed several tissues and nerves, and fractured your bone. I may have stitched you up, but you're in no condition to be training. If you fall from that distance..."

Her eyes narrowed. Teach _properly_, and she won't fall.

"Sorry, I did not mean to be rebellious or ungrateful," she said, shuffling her feet. "I just felt a bit left out. You know, irrelevant."

Kakashi softened his expression, before placing a hand on her head in a pat. "Listen," he whispered, wrinkling his eye in a smile. "What you did against Zabuza has already exceeded all my expectations." Those must had been some pretty low expectations. "Let your arms recover." Her arms were perfectly capable of recovering _while she trained_. "It's okay if you don't push yourself further for tonight." Actually, no, pushing hard and fast seemed necessary given, you know, the drug lord sending all those rogue shinobi after them. "After all, I believe you have already outperformed both the boys."

Sakura blinked at her teacher's sincerity.

And then, she laughed.

And laughed.

And _laughed_.

Did he just seriously just say that.

Did he seriously miss the underground tunnel dug under the span of fifteen seconds. With _fingernails_.

Or the breath of fire hot enough to incinerate all carbon matter within a three meter radius.

Or the fucking _kage bushin_ that most shinobi cannot accomplish given in a _lifetime_. How about a _hundred_. With a shortcut hand seal Naruto _invented in the middle of combat_.

Or the inhuman reaction speeds and complementary flash-step. That by the time light had hit her pupil and her receptors had sent a picture for her brain to process, Sasuke had already traveled five meters in the air, pulled out a set of weapons, and locked onto his target with laser precision.

Or the henge that could mimic the mass, volume, weight, density of any object, perfect down to its thermal, kinetic, and optical properties.

Guess raw physical and mental stamina was not worth much nowadays.

Nor regenerative powers that made one oblivious to damage.

Cradling her stomach, Sakura found her breath and wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you, sensei. That's the first time someone ever complimented me like that. You are so kind." He was so full of bullshit.

Sasuke had made his twentieth strike when he turned around. Naruto was still flopping like a fish on the ground, and Kakashi was further behind, reading a book. But he swore he heard Sakura a moment ago.

"What are you doing here?" Tazuna asked, watching Sakura join the construction workers on the bridge. Her scowl reconfigured into a smile.

"Kakashi-sensei sent me to act as your bodyguard!" she chirped. "Anything I can do to help?"

While Sasuke and Naruto trained in the woods, Sakura played hopscotch on the bridge, lost in mental ramblings. Tazuna did not think there was much Sakura could do without arms, so he left her alone to her quirky behavior. The construction required full attention.

It was not until late noon that Tazuna noticed that Sakura had escalated her game of hopscotch to the bridge railings. Eyes closed, Sakura realigned her torso, controlling the shaking of her leg.

"Fifty seven forty four, point one... point two..." In the darkness of her mind, the diagram shifted once more, a web of lines stretching in parallel before curving at the base of her foot. Angle thirty eight, lower shoulder, cosine square root N over k, keep perpendicular the arm and-

"Hey, careful there! The railings get slippery!"

Her eyes snapped open. With a yelp, Sakura toppled over. Luckily, she fell onto the deck instead of the crashing waters below. Unluckily, she did not escape unscathed, as fresh blood seeped out from her elbows and knees, from where she scraped against the cement. Tazuna shook his head while Sakura laughed nervously.

"Sorry, I'll just go back over there," she said mildly, taking her hopscotch chalk.

When she turned around, she dropped her smile. On the floor, she marked an arrow. From the start, the repulsion force of chakra on matter...

The following day, Tazuna was on his lunch break when he accidentally knocked over his water bottle. Seeing the bottle bob in the waters below, Tazuna shrugged it off as a lost cause.

However, Sakura set down her bento and volunteered to retrieve it.

"Can you swim?" Tazuna joked.

"I don't need to."

With that, she walked off the bridge. Jaw open, Tazuna called to his men for a rope. However, as they lowered him down, there was no drowning girl. Like a water spider, she walked across the water, then back up the towers, then under the deck, and finally back upright.

"Here you go!" She presented the water bottle to him.

"How in the world...?"

"Dynamic equilibrium," she said simply. "I found it."

After a day of calculations, Sakura had reached a recipe of 73.2 percent muscle, 24.6 percent stamina, and 2.2 percent chakra focus that allowed three dimensional maneuverability, let it be a leap off the ground, or a slide across the water. For horizontal positions, strengthen core and spine to adjust for torque. For aerial combat, tunnel chakra for propulsion. For climbs, disperse and contract for adhesion. Purely formulaic, and after three thousand runs of trial and error, Naruto and Sasuke made the same discovery.

Tazuna removed his hard hat. "I see," he said, solemnly. He plopped the hat on her head and shouted to his crew. "Oi, ready the chains! We've got a new worker!"

Her new skill proved highly useful in connecting cables, fixing underbeams, and acting as a general mediator between the two uncompleted sides.

"What a day! At this rate, we'll finish way ahead of schedule!" Tazuna exclaimed, sauntering into town in merry steps. "You're a piece of work, you know that? Parents must be proud."

Sakura gave a dry smile.

The marketplace was a collection of rundown shacks. Half the shops sold onions by individual stalks, and malnutritioned children huddled in the streets. Originally, Sakura had hoped to use this grocery trip to stock up on some medicine and weaponry, but now she would be lucky to find rice.

"It wasn't always like this," Tazuna mumbled. "The town was fine until Gatō robbed it of its wealth."

Sakura said nothing. Then, "Where does this Gatō person live again?"

Back at the house, when Naruto and Sasuke were not busy bromantically latching onto each other in heaps of sweat, they were glaring over the dinner table, stuffing food into their mouths.

They extended their empty bowls for more, before hurling.

Eye twitching, Sakura set down her chopsticks. "You guys have some nerve," she said, cracking her knuckles, "_wasting food_!"

When she slammed their heads into their respective bowls, Kakashi concluded that her arms may have sufficiently healed for combat.

.

Nights in the Land of Waves were different from those back home. The fog would become heavy to the point of unbreathable. It would also blanket all moonlight, so that the entire outside was blind to even the shinobi. Your world became an island, limited to the space of your hut and whatever artificial means you had to light your way.

Sakura listened to the creaks and croaks, the incessant chirping a pitch lower than the ones of Konoha. The night also amplified the groans of the house itself, old planks of wood straining against the sways of the water. If she sat still enough, she could sometime feel the house sway too.

She cannot say whether she preferred this type of living or not, only that the nights felt strange without the buzz of electrical equipment, barks of the neighborhood dog, and occasional crash of a tipped garbage can. In the futon next to her, Naruto mumbled and snored. There was the silhouette of a bundle that marked Sasuke in the far corner. Upstairs were the client and his family, who had turned in after the last dishes were set on the rank, the last toothbrush returned to its cup, the last words and laughs exchanged in the hall.

It was very strange indeed.

"Is something bothering you, Sakura?"

She turned her attention to the ragged scar down the face of her teacher. Kakashi did not look up from his jutsu.

"Nothing in particular," she said. She tilted her head for close scrutiny of his eye. "But your eye, it's so cool, sensei!"

His eyes curled into a smile. "And useful." Done, he released her arm. She rolled her wrist and tested her muscles. It was the seventh night of healing, and while some phantom pain lingered, she was more or less recovered.

She noticed the drain on her teacher, though, as he quickly went to shield his Sharingan.

"Do you mind me asking how you got it?"

"Aren't you a curious one."

At Kakashi's avoidance, Sakura lowered her head in concession. The matter was obviously private, and if anyone were to deserve an explanation, Sasuke would be far ahead in line. Still, it did not hurt to ask.

"I just like knowing things, Kakashi-sensei."

Her smile was the sweet kind, contrasted to Naruto's silly one, but both were fake. Her tone was fake. Her politeness was fake.

Besides strong academic grades, the only thing Kakashi knew about Sakura was her love for some series called Sailor Stars. She would gush about the show on every mission, recapping the last episode or squealing over the latest so-and-so cute character, much to the dismay of her teammates.

Girls would be girls, though, and Kakashi did not think too deeply into the quirk at first. After all, the show was largely popular among girls, and from Kurenai told him, had positive moral lessons about friendship, tolerance, and respect.

It had also been canceled a good year ago, and none of the characters Sakura giggled about ever existed.

"Sakura," Kakashi began.

She met his gaze. "Yes, sensei?"

The uneven lighting had darkened her pupils to a jade, her skin dyed a grey. On her face was the innocent smile of a twelve year old girl who had not just killed a man a week prior. Killed a man, and reacted only with a pout for her stained clothes and shoes.

"Why did you give me a bell that day," he decided to ask.

She sent him a strange look. "Well, sensei, I would assume the same reason why my teammates are still here."

Her features became chiseled by chiaroscuro. "Were you really going to deny the nine-tailed jinchuuriki and the last survivor of the Uchiha tutelage for a nobody like me?" she chuckled darkly. "I wanted to call your bluff."

Kakashi stiffened. "About Naruto, you knew."

She flashed him another sweet smile. "I told you, I like knowing things."

Because it was the things that you didn't know that would come to kill you.

.

For a week, the days had been relatively idyllic. Then, on the eighth morning, half the bridge crew lied slaughtered, every last body punctured with senbon needles. Before them stood the masked child.

"Zabuza-san." There was ice in his voice. "I will fulfill your last wish and execute this man."

Kakashi deflected the senbon before it could pierce Tazuna in the eye. To Sasuke, he turned and smiled. "You think you can protect Tazuna-san?"

Back at the house...

"Oh shit! We're late!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping into his pants.

From her futon, Sakura eyed him hazily through layers of eyebags. She yawned. "What's the hurry. It's not like the bridge is going to up and move."

"No, but like hell I'm going to let Sasuke get a private training session with Kakashi-sensei."

"Fair enough, help me up."

Sakura grabbed her backpack, before her eye caught a roll of wire.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura strapped the coil to her back, before flipping out the window. Her feet stopped at the surface of the river. "Tazuna-san mentioned some construction tools for the bridge. I don't want to make a second trip back for them."

"Oh, let me help!" Naruto beamed, hopping over the windowsill after her.

Sakura facepalmed at the splash that ensued.

"Why did you do that!"

"Because you did!"

She violently shook his soaked body. "BAKA, you can't mimic skills you don't yet have and expect things to magically work out!"

"Ahaha, but you'll teach me, right, Sakura-chan, _right_?"

"BAH!"

At the shipping warehouse, Sakura handed Naruto the handle of a sledgehammer before running to gather more equipment. Once done, they dashed back to the house a final time to sign off Tsunami and Inari.

On their leap across the trees, Sakura shifted her gaze down to Naruto's footwork. He grinned at hers. In union, they somersaulted, before straightening from their crouch. Looked like the old days of walking were over.

"Good luck!" Tsunami said, drying a dish.

Sakura adjusted the strap of her backpack. "Yup, see you-"

The wall smashed open.

"-later."

Sakura blinked at the goon in mime makeup and beanie, then at the shirtless wannabe pirate with tattoos. Her gaze fell to the broken table, split down the middle, and the plates smashed on the floor. Tsunami cowered against the sink while Inari stood frozen by the kitchen doorway.

One of the goons lifted his sword at Tsunami. "Tazuna's daughter, right? You're coming with us!"

Sakura blinked once more.

Then, she smiled. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"You mind taking Tsunami and the kid to the other room?" Slowly, Sakura set down her backpack and relieved Naruto of the sledgehammer. Her smile darkened to a sneer, as she tilted her head at her opponents. "I don't want them to see this."

Naruto seized Inari and ushered a bewildered Tsunami upstairs. "Hey, no worries, it's going to be alright," he said.

Inari peeked up from his hat. "How do you know?"

After a swift glance across the room, Naruto crouched down and whispered, "You know that girl down there? I grew up with her, and if there's anything I know, it's that she's..."

"She's what?"

"Well, she's fucking crazy."

Downstairs in the kitchen, Sakura stared impassively at Gatō's new recruits.

"You got yourself into a bad mess, girly," the pirate laughed. "I've just been wanting to cut-"

Five bashes later, Sakura dropped the hammer and peeled skull bits off the cabinet drawers. Grabbing a leg, she gathered the bodies into industrial garbage bags. She scowled at the streaking trail of red leaking out of the bags, but kept dragging until they were a safe distance from the house. Sasuke could take care of the bodies with a katon when he got back.

It was indeed a mess. She rinsed her hands and shouted to Naruto for help on the clean up. His kage bushin began to mop the floor when one caught sight of a set of swords lying on the floor. He withdrew one out of its sheathe and found a thin, slicing-specific sword.

"They're fancy enough to fetch good money," Sakura said.

By the time the real Naruto brought Inari and her mother downstairs, the kitchen had been sterilized, with every measure taken to remove the traumatizing smell. As for the broken wall and furniture, Sakura tossed the swords to Naruto and promised to return with enough cash for the damages.

"Gatō's already started making his move. There will be more people after you," Sakura said. "Naruto, think you're proficient enough with the kage bushin to have a clone keep an eye on them?"

"I am now." To Inari, Naruto grinned. "Keep strong, you hear?"

They set off.

Upon arrival at the bridge, their eyes widened. Five men of the construction crew lied sprawled across the bridge. Sasuke lied prone on the ground in front of Tazuna, a coat of needles punctured through him.

Deep in the fog, a child in a chipped masked shoved Kakashi's limp body aside. He stumbled forward, a trail of blood down the fabric of his haori. With dead eyes, he withdrew his last three senbon needles. "For Zabuza-san," he whispered.

Naruto balled forward, shielding Tazuna from one last desperate attack before the child collapsed.

Then, all fell to silence.

Naruto knelt beside Tazuna. "Oi, you're okay, right?"

Tazuna lowered his gaze in shame. "Yeah," he said. "That boy protected me with his life."

Naruto stared speechlessly at Sasuke. "No... Nonono!" He lifted his body. It was cold. "No, no, don't be dead on me, you bastard. I haven't beaten you yet. I haven't- I- Who gave you permission to play hero without me!" He screamed and shook him harder.

Sakura swallowed deeply at her teacher's body. By some devastating force, his hand was buried in his ribcage, too frighteningly deep, so deep it looked like he had burst from the inside out. Standing up, she closed her hand and forced herself to break away. She checked the others, but the crew was dead too.

"Please tell me Sasuke-kun is..." She stopped at Naruto's hunched-over form, the tears rolling down his chin. They did not stop, dripping onto Sasuke's forehead and cheek.

There was the tap of a cane.

"What a touching scene."

They whipped around to see a mob at the end of the bridge, led by a suited man. "I must say this went perfectly, two down on both sides." The man looked up from his round shades. "Little girl and boy, I'm feeling generous today. You have one chance to run."

Naruto controlled his shaking and stood up. Sakura stared expressionlessly.

"I'm guessing the mouse-looking thing is Gatō," she stated in monotone.

"Yeah, I bet it is," Naruto deadpanned.

"Flip a coin?"

"Let's share."

"Fine by me."

Naruto withdrew both blades, while Sakura slung the sledgehammer over her shoulder.

"You kids seriously think you're going to take on _me_?" Gatō laughed, but stepped back when the two children were unfazed except for a spike in chakra from one and a drop in temperature from the other. "Kill them!" he ordered.

Naruto took left while Sakura ran along the right railing, a line of wire strung between them that with a single taunt pull and yank, sawed off the heads of the first line of offense. Naruto jumped into the crowd, spinning a hurricane of red. Sakura bashed her hammer into the face of one man, before evading a spear with a jump off the bridge. "Eep!"

Just as the men peered over the railing, awaiting the sound of crashing water, she flipped back upright, whacking their heads into one. "Just kidding."

Gatō watched in horror as his crew was sliced, chopped, and minced like meat. A demon approached him in even steps, burning hot enough for steam to evaporate from his skin. His pupils had thinned into the slits of a monster, mouth baring a row of sharp, interlocked teeth.

Naruto rolled his neck. "To let you in on a secret, I was starting to like him." He lifted his swords. "A lot."

Gatō turned and ran, only to find a girl with a shit-eating smile on her face. "You killed my future husband and butler." She raised her sledgehammer. "They were so handsome."

Nauseated, Tazuna averted his attention away from the slaughterhouse. His eyes widened at the sight of a rising breath.

Hazily, Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at his teammates, who stared at him back, chakra dispersed, weapons falling anticlimactically out of their grip.

"Oh look," Sakura said. "He's alive."

Naruto stiffened and buried his face into his palm. "Don't get your hopes up, Sakura-chan. I mean, he could still die."

"No fool, I'm alive-"

Flushing, Naruto stomped Sasuke's head back down. "Nope, after that, you're _dead_."

.

"The Great Kakashi Bridge, huh."

Anko slung back into the couch. Fate certainly had a twisted sense of irony. Hatake Kakashi. The man to survive a decade of S-rank assassination and undercover work, wandering for ages in the dark, before finally pulled to the light, to a future and recovery, only to die on a C-rank mission protecting a drunk and some bumbling kids.

"Wow, what a blow, man."

Hiruzen understood the loss all too well. Kakashi had been one of their best black ops, as well as the village's only Sharingan wielder for a good four years. Not only that, his former connection to the deceased Fourth and bond with an Uchiha made him the perfect mentor candidate to Naruto and Sasuke.

"At least I finally managed to find a new sensei for Team Seven," the Hokage sighed, setting down the scroll.

"Ha, nice. Who's the sucker?" Anko asked, toying with a kunai.

"You."

The kunai fell.

"WHAT!"

.

Danzō descended down the dungeon steps, two masked shinobi silently following behind in his shadow.

The closer he approached the cell, the colder the air became, until the floor itself became frosted white, as did the walls and bars. With a nod of his head, the flight of Root shinobi parted for his entrance.

Strapped by chains, the prisoner blankly watched him withdraw something from his sleeve. It turned to be not a sword, but a bowl.

With wrinkled hands, Danzō laid the hot chazuke before him as offering, as well as a pair of chopsticks.

"Child of Snow, we welcome you to the Land of Fire."


End file.
